DICE: Mod Tools Still An Option in Battlefield 3

Battlefield 3 is easily one of the most anticipated games this year, but PC gamers were a little disappointed when hearing that Battlefield 3 won't ship with mod tools. In an interview conducted with IGN , DICE's General Manager Karl Magnus Troedsson explains why BF3 will not launch with mod tools, but has left open the possibility that it could be added in the future.

"We haven't had mod support in our games for a long time, and there's a lot of reasons for that. First of all, DICE is committed to innovation and quality, whenever we do something. If we were to do mod support, it needs to be proper mod support, not some hack that we've thrown out there and then people scratch their heads. If we let it out there, it's going to be a good tool."

It's already been revealed that the new Frostbite 2.0 engine is simply too complex for modders to use, so in that sense it's important that the tool is good. Troedsson continues the interview by explaining the security complications that come along with the ability for people to mod the PC version.

"It's a huge investment for us to do something like that, and also a bit complicated, and to some degree there's also [a concern] security-wise. It's a bit scary to take an investment like Battlefield 3 and just let people dig into that engine and do whatever they want. We're dedicated to try and really limit the amount of hacks and exploits that come out there, but as soon as you let something like that out, people have all the tools in the world that they need to sit there and try to create cheats that actually would destroy the experience for a lot of other people. I'm not blaming mod tools for hacks and exploits in any way, but there's a lot of things we need to consider."

DICE's concerns are legit, but that hasn't stopped them from attempting to please fans.

"We have heard the community loud and clear. We are talking about it in the studio. I'm not promising that we're going to do it in any way, but we have heard it, and we'll see what we do in the future."

Matt Liebl
You can follow Senior News Editor Matt Liebl on Twitter @Matt_GZ. He likes games, sports, musicals, and his adorable dog, Wrigley, and his wife.